After Brown’s firing, it became increasingly clear that the players and fans wanted Jackson back on the sidelines for the Lakers. Fans chanted “We want Phil” as Kobe Bryant stood at the free-throw line, and the Lakers’ star guard echoed that sentiment in comments about his inability to bring a championship in 2010-11, when Jackson last coached in Los Angeles.

“The one thing that’s kind of always bothered me is that in his last year I wasn’t able to give him my normal self,” Bryant said on Friday. “I was playing on one leg and that’s kind of always eaten away at me. The last year of his career I wasn’t able to give him all I had.

“He’s too great of a coach to have it go out that way. That’s my personal sentiment. I took it to heart because I couldn’t give it everything I had because I physically couldn’t. My knee was shot. That’s always bothered me.”

Dwight Howard, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season, also said he would like to play for Jackson.

"I think it would be great," Howard told the The Times. "He's a guy I could learn a lot from. But until he comes, we have to put all of our faith into Bernie" Bickerstaff, the Lakers' interim coach. Bickerstaff will coach the team Sunday against the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center.

Former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni was considered to be in the running because of his positive relationship with Bryant and Steve Nash. He is the top candidate if Jackson turns down the job, according to The Times.